NATO Maintenace Adopts RFID

The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA, Paris, France) has established an “In Service Support” contract with Savi Technology, a Lockheed Martin company (Mountain View, Calif., www.savi.com), for its RFID-based products, services, software and solutions. The contract enables the 26 nations of the NATO alliance and non-NATO nations of the Partnership for Peace initiative to order RFID-based consignment tracking and management solutions from a pre-authorized source, NAMSA.

The contract, announced at the opening of the 2007 Paris Air Show, simplifies and centralizes the process for NATO nations to place orders for Savi Technology’s networked solutions through the NAMSA procurement process. There are no limits to the size or amount of orders that can be placed through NAMSA.

The Savi SmartChain Consignment Management Solution (CMS) is compliant with NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAGS) for consignment management, and already is used by NATO, several member nations and other coalition defense forces worldwide. NATO Force Goal 4052 also recognizes the importance of member nations to have supply chain visibility and interoperability through STANAG-based consignment management systems for greater collaboration in multi-national logistics operations.

The contract was awarded to Savi Technology to facilitate the process of gaining real-time visibility of consignments for NATO member and Partner for Peace nations in their own supply chains as well as when collaborating with other nations to transport critical supplies. Centralizing the logistics procurement process through NAMSA helps control costs and quality while promoting the use of standardized solutions for the operational readiness of NATO forces.

“The NAMSA contract accelerates the momentum of expanding interoperable RFID-based logistics networks that automatically locate, track, and manage defense supplies while in-transit worldwide,” said Bruce Jacquemard, Savi Technology’s managing director of International Business. “This stimulates the build out of a global logistics coalition network that improves the efficiency and performance of delivering critical supplies all the way from the factory to the foxhole when and where they’re needed.”

Established in 1958, the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) is NATO’s principal logistics support management agency. NAMSA’s main task is to assist NATO nations by organizing common procurement and supply of spare parts and arranging maintenance and repair services necessary for the support of various weapon systems in their inventories. This assistance is available whenever two or more nations operate the same system and have made a conscious decision to use NAMSA’s support facilities. NAMSA’s activities are overseen by the NATO Maintenance and Supply Organization.